Knife maniac planned to kill two women in city bloodbath
Police’s ‘only option’ was to shoot dead the ‘relentless and out of control’ hotel attacker
A MAN who wounded six people in a stabbing frenzy was on his way to attack two other women when he was shot dead by police.
By the time armed officers halted his rampage last weekend in a Glasgow hotel being used to house asylum seekers, 28-yearold Badreddin Abadlla Adam had left a trail of victims.
But sources have now revealed the asylum seeker, from Sudan, was preparing to attack more people – and was specifically planning to target two other hotel residents, both women from Nigeria.
Adam struck at the Park Inn hotel, in Glasgow city centre, just over a week ago.
His victims included 42-year-old police officer David Whyte before being fatally shot by firearms officers. An investigation by watchdog body the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) has begun, which is routine where police firearms have been deployed.
However, we can also reveal that police are confident that the investigation will conclude they did nothing wrong – and that the shooting was a proportionate and appropriate response to the threat posed by the attacker.
An informed source said: ‘He had indicated he was after two Nigerian women, who were on the fifth floor and among those who had locked themselves in their room against him.
‘As far as the decision to shoot him, it was seen as the only option because he was completely out of control and showed no sign of putting down the weapon.
‘He could not be calmed down and could not be persuaded to give up his weapon.
‘He was relentless, clearly out of control and set on doing further damage.
‘There were still people in the hotel, including people who had locked themselves in their rooms to keep away from him, and the officers had no idea that all the doors were safely locked and that everyone was safe.
‘Although there is an investigation ongoing, we’re confident the shooting was in keeping with guidance about keeping as many people safe as possible, and we’re not expecting criticism.’
New testimony from fellow asylum seekers has revealed Adam came from Gedaref, on Sudan’s south-eastern border. In recent years, it has increasingly been hit by drought and both tribal and criminal warfare.
He left in around 2017, travelling through a string of different countries, sometimes sleeping rough, before eventually arriving in Belfast in 2019.
One fellow asylum seeker remembered him as quiet and polite and said he had described being tortured and held to ransom in a Libyan jail.
Others reported that he was deeply frustrated by what he saw as his failure to make a successful new life in Europe and had wanted to return to Sudan.
He had arrived in Glasgow earlier this year.
Those injured in his hotel rampage also included three asylum seekers and two people who worked for the hotel. Four of the victims remain in hospital.
When Police Scotland officers rushed to the scene they initially treated it as a suspected terrorist incident. Just six days earlier, knifeman Khairi Saadallah allegedly stabbed three people to death in a terror attack in a park in Reading, Berkshire.
However, police in Scotland quickly decided that rather than being a fanatic, Adam was suffering from extremely poor mental health. That conclusion appeared to be supported by both his friends and statements from other hotel residents.
One said: ‘For two or three days, he was seeing things that no one else could see and hearing things
‘Couldn’t be persuaded to give up his weapon’
‘He was seeing things no one else could see’
no one else could hear. He also said he was feeling things – that people hated him and wished him harm – but there seemed no logic to it.”
It is understood that police examined Adam’s mobile telephone and found no obvious evidence pointing to terrorist connections.
In addition to the Pirc investigation there will also be a fatal accident inquiry.
That will hear evidence about all the decisions that were made during the incident and who authorised the actions taken, meaning the way the events unfolded will come under intense scrutiny.
Efforts are being made to track Adam’s movements as closely as possible. His application for asylum was live and had not yet been settled by the Home Office.
However, he is thought to have wanted to return to Sudan, and fellow hotel residents said his rampage began shortly after a telephone call with his immigration lawyer.
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said: ‘The circumstances are being independently investigated by the Pirc under the direction of the Lord Advocate, therefore we are unable to comment.’
A Pirc spokesman said: ‘Once our investigation is concluded, a report will be sent to the Crown Office for consideration. It would be inappropriate to comment further.’